jimmy fallon

Despite the show’s approach to make their actors unrecognisable you might remember some from big series

A Prime Video series that was dubbed ‘best show ever’ is finally returning with a whole new cast and approach, although there are still some faces that you might recognise.

Jury Duty is returning with a second season and a new set up, with the first episodes available to stream from March 20. Part social experiment, part reality series and part sitcom, the show is unlike most of what you’ve seen before.

According to its synopsis, Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat is a comedy series that captures a corporate offsite event at a family-owned hot sauce company from the perspective of Anthony, a recently hired temporary worker.

Unbeknownst to Anthony, the entire experience is staged. Every colleague around him is performing a role and each moment whether in conference rooms or during downtime has been meticulously orchestrated. As the founder prepares to step down, the getaway transforms into a clash between big corproate ambitions and small business values, with control of the company hanging in the balance.

While the premise of the show means that all the actors involved have to be unrecognisable to the one non-actor, there are actually a few faces you may have seen before. But who are they and what have they starred in that you may remember them from? Here’s all you need to know.

Jerry Hauck plays Doug, the CEO of Rockin Grandma’s Hot Sauce. He’s described as “a lovable papa bear with Big Dad Energy who cares deeply about the company he’s built and the people that work for it.” Hauck has had memorable small roles on huge shows including ER, Seinfeld, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Paradise.

Alex Bonifer stars as Doug’s son and heir apparent to the business, Dougie Jr. He is “well-meaning but directionless” who is suddenly handed huge responsibilities. Eagle-eyed viewers will recognise Bonifer from Kevin Can F*** Himself where he played the role of Neil.

Amy, of customer relations is played by Emily Pendergast who has a lot of experience in comedy TV. She starred in multiple episodes of Veep and Netflix sitcom Leanne. Meanwhile the eventually nicknamed Other Anthony, who is he company’s Assistant Sourcing Manager, is played by Rob Lathan who previously appeared in Inside Amy Schumer and has served as a writer on other sketch shows.

Comedian Rachel Kaly plays remote worker and web designer Claire. While her character might be obsessed with the series Bones, she herself has appeared on animated comedy Digman! and High Maintenance.

Straight talking Helen, from accounting who has been at the business from the very beginning alongside Doug, is played by Stephanie Hodge. She is one of the most experienced cast members with past credits including NCIS, Young Sheldon and Scandal. She also had starring roles in the 90s on Nurses and Unhappily Ever After.

Jackie, who works in distribution and logistics when not taking charge of her kids at home, is played by LaNisa Renee Frederick. She’s previously appeared in smaller roles on Brooklyn Nine Nine, The Goldbergs and Mom.

Jim Woods, who was a writer on The Last O.G. starring Tracy Morgan, and starred on Reno 911!. takes on the role of warehouse manager Jimmy. He may have once been the non P.C. employee but he’s working maybe a bit too hard to be a better version of himself.

Erica Hernandez plays Kate from sales and marketing, who often gives the impression she should have a leadership role herself. Hernandez previously starred in the drama series True Lies, based on the 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger film as well as New Amsterdam.

The other half of Team Skate (Steve & Kate), Steve is a “confident salesman that plays the calmer yin to Kate’s high-strung yang.” He is played by Warren Burke who has appeared in 13 episodes of Family Reunion and eight episodes of Bigger.

Snack obsessed receptionist PJ, is played by Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur who you may have seen before in Steve Carrell starring Netflix comedy Space Force or his brief appearances in Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Good Place. There’s also HR manager Kevin who is the one who seemingly hires Anthony to be his assistant.

He is played by Ryan Perez. Perez is actually a seasoned comedy actor, writer and director. He has written for Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon while he has also directed Funny or Die shorts with Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart.

Ranch manager Marjorie who is looking after the company workers while on retreat is played by Blair Beeken. She most recently appeared in Apple’s hit sci-fi series Pluribus.

Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat is streaming on Prime Video.

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The birthday surprise was not subtle.

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling showed up together in public Thursday evening for the first time in more than a decade, with Gosling enlisting “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” host for help in surprising his longtime partner for her 52nd birthday.

Gosling was on the show to promote his upcoming film, “Project Hail Mary,” in which he plays a high school teacher tasked with saving the world. So he asked Fallon to arrange for an audience full of — you guessed it — high school teachers. Because Mendes absolutely loves teachers, he said.

And then there was the request that they surprise Mendes by singing “Happy Birthday” when she came out on stage. It was unclear whether Gosling also ordered up the marching band that played backup, but Fallon wound up crediting him for the whole deal, which we assume included the, um, confetti cannon.

So back to Gosling, who along with Mendes is very private about their relationship and hasn’t been seen at a public event with her (His partner? His wife? Who knows, who cares) since they promoted their 2013 movie “The Place Beyond the Pines.”

He talked about the movie, of course, sharing some funny video from a promotional spot he recorded.

“This was crazy,” the “Crazy, Stupid, Love” actor told Fallon and the “Tonight Show” audience. “I swear, this is not a paid ad. I swear this happened. This was not planned. I had to do a little thing with Alexa, where I just was supposed to ask her facts about the movie. … And this is what happened. This is what she said, I swear.”

In the video, Gosling quizzed Alexa about why people should see the movie in theaters instead of waiting for it to stream at home.

“Because the Imax visuals are absolutely stunning,” Alexa said. But it was what she said next that warmed Gosling’s heart.

“Plus, Eva Mendes herself called it a masterpiece that brings back the magic of the big screen experience that you just can’t get the full impact of on your couch at home,” Alexa said.

“That Eva Mendes is great, isn’t she?” Gosling said in his trademark slight-smirk delivery.

“Absolutely. She’s got this incredible range that people don’t always give her credit for” — at this point Gosling blurted an enthusiastic “Thank you!” — “from her breakthrough in ‘Training Day’ to that beautiful performance in ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ with Ryan Gosling, she brings this authentic vulnerability to every role.”

At this point, Gosling kissed Alexa, who was made out of red plastic and had a “Project Hail Mary” image emblazoned on her speaker.

“Plus, she’s been smart about stepping back from acting to focus on family,” Alexa continued, “which shows she’s got her priorities straight.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said Gosling, who’s been with Mendes since 2011 and welcomed two daughters with her. Whether they are officially married is, of course, a mystery. And he did kiss Alexa, which could complicate things. That Alexa, she’s a hustler.

But married or not, Gosling was 100% committed to surprising Mendes on her 52nd trip around the sun. Turns out she was backstage at the show, thinking she was going to get the opportunity to tell the audience full of teachers how much she appreciated what they do every day. So someone brought her to the set, where Gosling greeted her with a “Hi, sweetheart” and held her hand as he pulled her to center stage.

Mendes, apparently thinking her appearance wouldn’t be part of the show, immediately burst into a paean to teaching, telling the educators who were assembled, “I love teachers so much, you guys. We owe so much to you guys. You’re so underpaid and you’re so — I just — thank you so much. I had so many amazing teachers.”

Then she turned to Fallon and said, “You’ll cut all this, right?” Seems she hadn’t put two and two together when Gosling pointed her toward the mark on the floor where she was supposed to stand for the cameras.

Nope, the host said. We love this.

So Mendes went on. “I had so many amazing teachers mentor me,” she said, speaking rapidly and enthusiastically, “and I just want to say thank you to you guys.”

But Fallon reminded her that this was her day — her birthday. And Gosling pointed out that among the educators there were some band directors.

“Yes, we have band directors from North Bergen High School,” Fallon announced. “Ladies and gentlemen, here to play ‘Happy Birthday’ to Eva Mendes, we have the North Bergen High School marching band.”

And there they were, a dozen or two members of that marching band, in full regalia, with two people holding a “Happy Birthday Eva!” banner and the rest blasting out the familiar tune. The entire audience joined in serenading the woman of the hour as they clapped along. Mendes clapped along as well.

As a finale, yup, confetti blasted out over those onstage. And Fallon gave credit where it was due.

“That’s all him,” he said, indicating Gosling, which prompted Mendes to grab her beau’s face and start whispering into his ear. And that’s the most fans are likely to see the twosome behaving like a twosome in public, at least until maybe 2039 or so. Maybe for her 65th birthday. Or her 70th. Or perhaps their AI holograms will one day reveal whether they said “I do.”

By the way, all those teachers were the ones who got the birthday gift last night. Fallon announced they would be going to a special screening of “Project Hail Mary” after the taping, and the teachers’ delight was palpable.

Very nice, “Tonight Show.” You and Ryan Gosling made some people very happy Thursday. Including one Eva Mendes.

“Project Hail Mary” hits theaters March 20.